


Safe and Sound

by youngliam (EmmaHaldan)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Death, M/M, Safe and Sound, War, ziall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-26
Updated: 2013-05-26
Packaged: 2017-12-13 01:04:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/818134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmaHaldan/pseuds/youngliam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Zayn is a very protective person; especially when it comes to Niall."<br/>~ Harry Styles</p><p>A vacation goes wrong, and Zayn's world comes crashing down, as he assures Niall, that everything, will be alright.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Safe and Sound

**Author's Note:**

> Please listen to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndGSHv_p3XE while reading xx

It was meant to be a nice and quiet vacation, for the five boys. They had been longing to go away, and be by themselves for a while. Of course they were grateful for the success and the fans - but in the past few months, it had all been a bit overwhelming.  
They had discussed the different opportunities, and as Zayn wanted to go “home”, they agreed on Pakistan. The weather was nice - very hot, for late august. The past week and a half, the boys had been living at Zayn’s cousin’s house. His whole family had been so welcoming, and the boys all felt at home, so they had been staying there, a few days more, than planned. Now they were living in the great city of Karachi - a city with a wild and different culture. The boys had been checking out the Hotel and its surroundings, when they got there - today it was all about the Centre of Karachi. It was a long time ago, that the boys had last been out, without bodyguards. They felt kinda naked, and loved the freedom that followed. They weren’t being chased around by cameras and fans. They were just five regular boys. They were walking down the street, shopping and buying things for their families, friends and girlfriends back home.  
“Harry, look at this!” Louis yelled, from behind the boys, “Harreh!” They all turned around to see Louis dancing around, with a weird looking hat on his head. “You must have gotten crazy from the heat.” Harry laughed. “But seriously guys! I.. I just can’t believe, that we’re actually walking around. Alone!” He continued. “I know! It’s crazy!” Liam answered. “We could like do anything here, and nobody would even care!” The boys all laughed, agreeing that Liam wouldn’t do ‘like anything’.  
“Hey Niall, there’s a shop for you!” Harry said, and pointed across the street, at a shop which had Polos in its windows.  
“Yeah buddy, it actually looks pretty good.” Niall said. “I’m just gonna go look, I’ll be back in a few!”  
“Wait up, man!” Zayn shouted at him. He turned his head to the three others, “I’m gonna go with him. I wanna find a paper, and see what’s going on at home.” Harry, Louis and Liam all nodded at him. “We’ll just see you in a few minutes then.” Harry said, “Hey, you hear that sound too? It couldn’t be thunder, could it?” Zayn raised his eyebrows, smiled and ran after Niall.  
“Niall! Hey Nialler, wait up man!” he panted. “Being a little out of shape, are we Mr. Malik?” Niall teased, and got a well-deserved punch at his upper arm. They went in, and Niall tried on a few shirts and Polo’s, Zayn just sitting there, in the fitting-room, giving advice. “Yeah you should totally buy that one Ni! It’s really cool!” He said, eyeing the lightblue Polo, matching Nialls eyes. “The thunder is getting worse, isn’t it?” He asked. Niall looked up, and listened. “Yeah, I think you’re right Malik, even though it doesn’t sound like thunder to me.” They went out, and queued a bit, before paying for the shirt. The man behind the counter kept looking worriedly out the windows, his hands shaking just a bit, when he gave Niall the bag. Zayn just shook his head, “Come on you, let’s go buy that paper, so that we can find the others again.” Outside the shop, the noises became louder. “It’s not thunder, that’s for sure…” Niall said getting that worried look on his face that Zayn always wanted to straighten out. “It’s OK Niall; it’s probably just some football fans, or something.” Zayn said, pulling Niall in the direction of the Kiosk. But even Zayn was worried, and he knew the yells weren’t just football-related. He was pushing Niall through the door, when a shot was fired, somewhere near all the yelling. “Zayn, what was that?” Niall said anxiously. “Listen Niall,” Zayn said, looking around for an employee, “It was probably nothing. Seriously, it’s like another world here, you know.” Zayn hated the missing employee. It was difficult for him to keep on the mask, knowing that the natives had hid. He put his arm around Nialls shoulders, trying to comfort the scared boy. They both just stood there, looking out the window. The streets were empty. And then suddenly, the window was shattered by a stone, thrown against it. The glass scattered all over the room, and both Niall and Zayn covered their heads. Zayn grabbed Niall’s hand, and pulled him with himself, down on the floor. Niall’s eyes widened, and his lips were shivering. “Niall. Nialler!” Zayn said, trying to get the attention from his best friend. But Niall kept quiet. And suddenly, they were everywhere - the people. People were screaming, and running in different directions. More windows were shattered. Then they heard a shot, very, very close. A young girl fell to the ground outside the shop. “No. NO!” Niall yelled, and started to cry. The girl was screaming and crying, but was very still, when a second shot were fired. Suddenly there were shots being fired, from every side. “Niall. Niall listen to me.” Zayn said, trying not to make his voice reveal, just how scared he was, himself. “Nialler listen to me. It’s going to be fine!” But Niall was terrified; he rested his head on Zayn’s shoulder, and Zayn held him close, one hand on the back of his head. He started swaying from side to side, humming quietly. He tried to close his eyes, not wanting to see the city being destroyed; he couldn’t. Something on the other side of the street was burning, the flames quickly spreading to the roofs, of the other houses. It was getting darker outside, and the crackling sound of flames, got louder.

Trying to drown the scary noise from outside, Zayn started to sing. “Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You’ll be alright; no one can hurt you now. Come morning light. You and I’ll be safe and sound. Don’t you dare look out your window darling; everything’s on fire. The war outside our door keeps raging on. Hold on to this lullaby…”

And then they heard a piercing, all too well-known scream, cut through the chaos. “LIAM! LIAM, NO!” Harry cried, from somewhere outside. Niall stiffened in Zayn’s arms, and for second he sat very, very still. Then he got up, and ran against the door. Zayn jumped up, and ran after him. “Niall, NIALL DON’T!” but Niall was already climbing through the shattered window. “LIAM!” He yelled, and pushed his way through the panicking crowds. “HARRY? LOUIS?!” Zayn heard him yell, and he tried to navigate towards his voice. “NIALL STOP, FOR GOD’S SAKE! WAIT UP!” Zayn screamed, as he saw the blonde boy a few meters ahead of him. Niall stopped, but got pushed hard in the back, by an aggressive looking guy. He managed to stay on his feet, but he looked more scared than ever.Zayn pushed his way over there, and grabbed Niall’s shoulders. “We need to hide.” Zayn said, feeling like a coward, for letting his best friends down. Niall’s face was pale white, and Zayn had to drag him along. They reached the other sidewalk, and further down the street, glued to a wall, stood a curly haired boy, with his arms wrapped around another boy. On the ground was a third boy laying very still. “Zayn. Zayn, it’s them!” Niall dragged Zayn with him. The closer they got, the harder it got for Zayn to think straight. . Louis, who was on the ground, was turning up the whites of his eyes and Harry was holding Liam, who was bleeding heavily from the chest. Liam’s feet barely touched the ground, and his head hung heavy and limp against Harry’s shoulder. Harry was carrying him; holding him up. Niall ran towards the boys, and he hadn’t eye for anything or anyone else. When he was just a few meters from them, he tripped and fell. He couldn’t get up, and nobody noticed him. Everything around him was just a blur of people running and screaming. It got harder to breathe, and the all-too well known claustrophobic feeling made him shake. He tried calling out Zayn’s name, but the words just wouldn’t come out. Someone stepped on his ankle, and someone else kicked him in the side. He heard someone familiar scream out his name, but couldn’t answer. Then a pair of strong arms reached down, and grabbed him. Zayn threw the younger boy, over his shoulders, and ran straight through the crowds. The only thing he could hear, were the shooting surrounding him, and the only thing he could think of, was to save and comfort Niall. He managed to push his way through, and kicked in a door.

He laid Niall gently down in the corner of the room, and helped him sit up. Niall was shaking violently, and his breathing was uneven. “Niall, breathe. Try to focus on my breathing, okay?” Zayn bowed his head down, to look into the blue terrified eyes. He had to focus on taking slow, deep breaths, so that Niall would start to relax. Niall looked up at Zayn, his was getting into a rhythm. Suddenly his lips crashed onto Zayn’s, and his shaking hands reached around the older boy’s neck, to pull him closer. Zayn kissed him back. He tangled his fingers in the blonde hair, and leaned in even closer, deepening the kiss. After a minute he pulled back, “Niall what are -“. “I love you Zayn.” Niall interrupted, his lips trembling. “I love you.”  
“You’re scared, babe.” Zayn said, and pecked on the soft lips again. “It’s going to be all right. I promise. I promise.” He took Niall’s hands, and held them tightly, to stop them from shaking. “Can I kiss you again?” Niall muttered under his breath. Zayn knew it was making him calm down, and to be honest it did the same for him. He wrapped his arms tightly around Niall’s body, and let their lips meet again. He loved the feeling of Niall so close to him; like they were perfectly safe. There weren’t anything more than pure friendship between the two of them, and both of them knew that. They weren’t suddenly in love; they were just scared out of their minds. Zayn felt his cheeks getting wet, and realized that Niall was crying again. “Hey? Hey, it’s okay. It’s fine Niall. Listen.” And Niall listened. The yelling and the shooting seemed to have moved. It wasn’t as loud and massive as before.  
“I think we’re okay, man.” Zayn said, smiling vaguely, “I think we’re okay.”  
Niall let out a relieved sob, before a pained look appeared on his face. “We need to find the lads.”  
Side by side they went out the door, and walked down the street. The smoke and dust, made it hard to see clearly. Zayn kept humming the song he had been singing for Niall earlier. It seemed to calm both of them, or at least it made the situation more bearable. Zayn felt his own hands shaking, and to regain control, he bit hard down on his lip. The taste of blood made him nauseous, as he remembered how he had last seen the boys. The streets were empty, and it got on his nerves. They couldn’t be all alone.  
“HARRY? LOUIS? LIAM?!” Niall called out, a few meters ahead of Zayn.  
“Niall! Hush! Don’t yell like that.” Zayn hissed. He knew he was freaking out, and he couldn’t help it. Tears were pressing behind his eyes, but he tried desperately to ignore the thoughts about Louis on the ground, Harry crying and Liam who had looked more dead than alive. They were okay. They had to be. For now he just had to keep looking for them, and make sure that Niall was safe.  
Zayn walked slowly, trying to recall where on the street, they had passed the boys.  
“NO!” Niall screamed close beside him, just before he forced Zayn down on the ground. Zayn heard a very loud bang, followed by the sound of Niall, crying out in pain. Zayn saw Niall’s face grow even paler, as he pressed his hands to the side of his stomach. Something red oozed through his fingers. Zayn couldn’t think. “No. NO!” He removed Niall’s hands, and pressed his own against the wound. Niall screamed and winced in pain, as Zayn pressed harder, trying to stop the bleeding.  
“It hurts! Oh god, it hurts!” Niall’s breathing was uneven, and troubled.  
“Niall, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I know it hurts, but stay with me, yeah?” Zayn couldn’t stop the tears from falling, and his voice cracked. Niall’s screaming faded, and he got quieter, which scared Zayn even worse. “No. No, Niall. I won’t let you go. Stay with me, okay? Look at me mate.” He demanded.  
Niall had to fight, to keep his eyes locked on the older boy. “Sing for me, yeah?” He whispered, his hands clenched into tight fists.  
Zayn pulled the two of them, closer to the wall, and leaned against it; Niall sat between his legs, leaning against his chest.  
“I remember tears streaming down your face, when I said; I’ll never let you go. When all those shadows almost killed your light, I remember you said; don’t leave me here alone. But all that’s dead and gone and passed tonight.” Zayn’s voice was hoarse. He could feel Niall’s heartbeat slowing down. He looked deep into the blue eyes.  
Just close your eyes, the sun is going down  
“Niall. Niall you stay with me now!” Except from the tears streaming down his face, Zayn was calm. He knew he had to be, for Niall’s sake.  
You’ll be alright  
Niall tried to say something, but the words wouldn’t come out. He felt numb, and lightheaded.  
No one can hurt you now  
Niall slowly turned up the whites in his eyes, and Zayn shook him a bit, “Nialler. I love you, you know that?” Tears trickled down Niall’s cheeks.  
“Zayn…” Niall moaned. “I’m… scared.”  
Come morning light  
Zayn just shook his head. “There’s nothing to be scared of, you’re going to be okay! Everything’s going to be okay. Someone’s going to walk by, and then we’ll get you some help. I promise you. You’re fine. The lads are too.” Niall’s head, resting against his shoulder, went limp and heavy. “Don’t leave me Horan. You’re gonna stay with me. You just rest for a minute, and then we’ll go and find the boys.”  
Niall’s hands unclenched, and the blue eyes stared at something far, far away.  
Zayn ignored his tears, pulled Niall closer, and kissed him on the head. “We’re fine Niall. I love you, and that’s all that matters.”  
You and I’ll be safe and sound.


End file.
